Penn State's Coaching Search Has Zeroed in on Tennessee Titans' Mike Munchak

UPDATE

Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean posted on Twitter that Munchak said that is not interested in coaching at Penn State. 

I would be surprised to see him leave Tennessee, especially considering the success that he has had with the team this year and the fact that Penn State is a mess right now. 

Penn State's search for its next head football coach has led the program to Tennessee Titans' head coach Mike Munchak, according to a report by David Jones in the Patriots News. Nothing is official right now, but the report speculates an announcement will come after the Nittany Lions' bowl game on Jan. 2. 

The Penn State program has done its best to stay under the radar after the fiasco with Jerry Sandusky and firing of Joe Paterno. Hiring Munchak would be a major move that could convince recruits who were turned off by the university in light of everything that has gone down. 

Again, this is all speculation at this point. Even Jones wrote that Munchak has done a great job of ignoring all the questions about Penn State so far. 

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I was in contact with one major coaches' agent on Tuesday who texted me: “A lot of NFL people think it's Munchak.” If so, his own guys are apparently in the dark. Titans assistant coaches have told one Nashville reporter that they absolutely don't believe Munchak is a candidate. But the fact is, he has never said specifically in public that he will absolutely be coaching the Titans next season. And so, speculation continues.

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Munchak is a Penn State alum. He played for the team from 1979-81 and was a second-team All-American in his senior season. 

While most coaches want to use the college coaching ranks to move to the NFL, it is easy to understand why Munchak would want to go the opposite route. As we have seen during the last two months, Happy Valley is a tight-knit community. 

The timing of this report couldn't be worse for Munchak or the Titans, who are still battling for a playoff berth heading into the final week of the season. A lot of things have to go right for them to get in, but it is still a possibility. 

If Munchak is going to leave the Titans to go to Penn State, it will be interesting to see how he and the university would handle him being unavailable for another week. 

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